TheImaginaryAlicorn

(OOC: Yeah, Eevees are my favorite pokemon) They twirled and spun through the dance with perfect timing, and when the music slowed to a halt, they stayed in each others embrace, in the pose they ended in. Actius almost wanted to kiss her, but he knew he couldn't - he barely knew her...they stood panting for a while, the dance having exhausted them, neither one speaking. The thought of romance was still prominent in Actius' mind, and it was all he could think of doing, but he knew he shouldn't. He almost did a "What would ___ do?", but he caught himself. The dance had been so intimate and amazing, but then it..stopped. Instead of embarrasing himself or Silent, he used his horn to start another song, and they began again. (OOC: No idea what to do from here...)

The Cult of Laughter - The Undercity of Manehattan - Somewhere... Tondrak wanted to leave so badly, but he had to get his book and carry out his plan. He hated himself for not leaving, which was a very unusual thing indeed. He was so unused to it that he got a little nausea. His gut knotted and twisted. "Well, I guess it's just you and me, Artist." The Cult of Laughter - Anywhere and Everywhere But Nowhere The Laughing Mare had closed contact with Cranky, not only because she had no more to say, but she also had business elsewhere. Her being - or as much of it as could go into the mortal realm - descended into Manehattan, into the Undercity, searching for two particular ponies. They were not hard to find, as their minds were strongly filled with thoughts of blood and murder, yet also glee. Of course, at the moment they were filled with almost unmatched sorrow. She quickly entered their thoughts, but lightly, for her presence alone was enough to make a pony go madder than even the worst of Cult ponies. "If it is the Mad Prophet you seek, Head to the creek." She spoke this in both of their minds, referring to the small pond in the Fillydelphia hideout to which Derpy would soon come, before "floating" away. She had only so much strength, and it was hardly enough to face the terrors she now did in the Astral Plane, let alone do so while touching the mortal world. She withdrew, although she still kept an eye on Equestria...

(OOC: Just curious, is there a reason why everyone is getting Pokemon profile pictures?) Silent pulled away from the dance, and Actius frowned a little, saddened, slightly worried. Was that...what was that? he thought. Too soon? I didn't mean to make a move! Well, not too much of one. Is she- Her horn began to glow, and the song changed. Relief filled Actius as he realized what she had been trying to do. At first he didn't pay too much to the lyrics, just enjoyed the moment, but he then heard, "every little step is one step closer to saying what you feel," and he studied it as they danced. After a few seconds, he processed what she was doing, and he thought t was very clever. What if I can't dance well enough? What if I can't interpret her 'words'? He soon found that her movements were easy to follow, and he believed his dancing was very much good enough. They twirled and danced until the end of the song... (OOC: I'll leave it up tou you, Windy, to figure out what Silent said)

The Cult of Laughter - The Manehattan Undercity - Somewhere... Derpy lay motionless after she was unbound. She felt fine, but the memory her pain left on her body was immense. She stood up and half walked, half limped over to where The Artist and Lila stood. "A test." She said bitterly. And there wasn't a BETTER WAY?" She yelled the last part at the top of her lungs, her face inches from that of The Artist. Still shaking, she spat, "You're sick." Then she turned sharply to Lila. "How could you? You went up and killed me like a fly on the wall! Squashed like a muffin under hoof. You weren't even sorry until you realized I was alive! I know no one cares about me - and don't pretend it's not true, I know! - but you could at least TRY to hide it." Wind walked up to them all and Derpy turned to look at her. "D-don't go with him." She was no longer crying, but her words were heavy with pain and her eyes were bleak and distant, as though trying not to see the horrors before them, yet steely and grim. She then walked right past Wind, one eye staring into space, the other aimed ahead. As she walked off into the night, one dread-filled sentence escaped her lips. "Has the Cult been this cruel, too?" The Cult of Laughter - The Fillydelphia Hideout - The Hallways of the Main Building High Prophet Cranky Doodle Donkey was sitting in the Chamber of the Prophets, a few hours after previous events had transpired, and was about to write a letter to the Cult members sent on Tondraks' mission, when he saw Derpy walking through the hallways. "Derpy!" He shouted in greeting. Derpy looked startledly in his direction, then turned her head away. He got up and walked to her. "Derpy, where are the others? How has the mission gone?" She responded faintly. "W-We..we found the crown...that bucking crown..." Only then did Cranky realise that she had been sobbing silently. His face became concerned. "Derpy, what's wrong? Where are the others?" The mares' chest heaved in a powerful sob before she fled, galloping of speedily to her room. "Derpy?! DERPY!" Cranky called after her in vain. He sighed and trudged down to the Laughing Mares' main chamber. The Cult of Laughter - The Fillydelphia Hideout - The Main Chamber of the Laughing Mare Upon arriving, Cranky knelt before the corpse of Pinkie, which served as a link between the Laughing Mare and the mortal world. "O Great and Powerful Mare of Laughter, what plagues Derpy? And what of her companions? Why will she not answer me? " The corpse stirred once again, and its' eyes glowed red. It's mouth moved as the Mare spoke though it. "Tondrak is still loyal to us, But he is with someone not to trust; In an attempt to get his scroll, He must pay the toll; Fireheart wants to live in a fantasy land, Conjured up by a mystery man; Hard task ahead does she face, A choice, both ways leading to disgrace; Wind with the Artist is in love, But he thinks of her as a magician his dove; They are all pawns for him to control - They accepted his offer like foals; The Mad Prophets' injuries did smart, But the true pain she faces is in her heart." With that, the Laughing Mare departed, and Cranky was left to ponder her words. The Cult of Laughter - The Manehattan Undercity - Somewhere... Tondrak had gotten what he needed and returned to where the group had last been. He spotted them with ease and headed over. "Let's get going - I don't want to stay here any longer than I have to. Wind, you look awful." He quickly cast a spell. "The illusion should wear off in about twenty minutes - I had to put a delay on it so we have time to leave. That way, nopony notices the sudden Euphorie. Speaking of leaving, shall we? Where do we go?" He sighed. "Artist," he said grudgingly, "you pick. I guess you're the boss, now."

The Cult of Laughter - The Manehattan Undercity - Somewhere... Tondrak turned and left, thoughts of doubt and regret filling his mind. What if my plan doesn't work in time? What if... The Cult of Laughter - A Painting... Derpy struggled in her bonds. The Artist had freed her just to tie her up again. Only this time she was lined up for slaughter. "No, Lila...You wouldn't..." Sobbing, she was sucked into the painting. The last thing she saw was Lila walking towards her with a knife. Well, it should have been. She felt the stab and pain shot through her body from her neck. She should have died, but she didn't even pass out. Instead, she sat enduring the excruciating, flaming-hot pain as it crawled into every inch of her body. What stung her most, however, was that Lila would do that to her. Tears escaped from her eyelids that now, like every other part of her, felt literally dead. In an attempt to shout, to make some communication, she uttered a groan-like, "Whyyy..?" Her head fell on her chest, and she laid there, her head going blank.

((My computer died/is dying, so until I get it fixed or my mom lets me borrow her computer, I'll be posting via Kindle. Grrr...)) Actius suddenly heard some music not too far from where he was sitting. Letting his ears lead him, he headed towards the sound of the noise. He soon found that the music was coming from the ballroom where, to his surprise, a crying Silent Dance was silently dancing. He smiled a little and walked over to her. "Mind if I join you?" They were now face-to-face, and he took her hooves in his, not waiting for a reply, and began to dance with her. He would have asked why she was crying, but she would have had to get her notepad, and didn't want to stop dancing. Besides, he had found that sometimes talking isn't the answer. ((This post took at least twenty minutes to type on this stupid Kindle...))

Actius looked around once more. Okeedokee, he thought, I think I'm done with the Falls anyway. After getting a hat from the gift shop, he made his way back to the train, which he was pretty sure was empty. He trotted up to his room and saw his luggage on the bed. I suppose I should unpack. With much effort, he opened up his overstuffed suitcase and his things flew all over the room. When he was done putting things in their places (mostly), Actius went to the lounge and sat, eating a bagel, waiting for other ponies to talk to.

The Cult of Laughter - Manehattan (Inner City) - Somewhere... "Wh-why," Derpy began, baffled, "would the Cult chase you and Tondrak and Lila? Are...you planning on leaving them?!" Then The Artist began to speak. "The Cult wouldn't hurt us!" Derpy shouted at him. "They...wouldn't...would they?" She shook her head violently, as if there was something in her ear. "The Cult would never let us down! And what do you mean 'your assistant'? Lila's with us! Right, Lila?" Then Wind went over to The Artist, praising him as a god. "No...Wind, not you! What about the Laughing Mare? She's a real goddess! And remember all of the ponies you slaughtered for the Cult? That was fun, right? Please, I don't wanna' turn you into a doll! T-Tondrak, help..?" She was quivering a bit, unsure of what to do. Tears began to form in her eyes. Tondrak looked towards Derpy. He was still very angry at her for dragging him into the painting and the Artist had his book, but still...he didn't like that Artist guy, and he did want to hep the Laughing Mare. Turning his back to Derpy, he said over his shoulder, "I'm not sorry." He walked over to The Artist, not letting his true plans be revealed. I hope the Laughing Mare will forgive me, and I hope she knows my true intentions. Derpy looked at Tondrak, then back at Wind, then to Lila. "I...I..." she began to cry, then turned and flapped away. (OOC: Man, Derpy is one active NPC. I was originally planning on just having her tag along in the background for the mission so she could deliver messages if needed) House Everfree - The Old Castle Ruins - Lady Fluttershys' Dining Hall Oh no, Jade thought to herself, this is not good. Looking around, she saw how uneasy everypony seemed. Lily wasn't able to walk on her own, Sand seemed off but was at least able to handle himself, but was now gone, Eve was sulking, and even Lady Fluttershy was a little shaken from something. The Stag seemed to be steadier than the rest, but not by very much. If I don't keep calm, I can't imagine what might happen to everypony else. Jade moved a little close to Lily to help her keep standing a bit more.

The Cult of Laughter - Manehattan (Inner City) - Somewhere... Derpy looked at The Artist, then started to back away slowly. "A-...Abandon the Cult?" she said, hesitating. "I don't...think...I don't think we should. Me and Tondrak are Prophets, and I can always make more muffins..." Then she turned away and started to trot off, first slowly, then faster and faster, and her speech progressed in a similar manner. "You said we do you a favor, and I say that that favor is letting you let us back to the Cult!" Once she had enough momentum, Derpy flapped her wings and kicked off the ground, trying to fly back. House Everfree - The Old Castle Ruins - Lady Fluttershys' Dining Hall Lady Fluttershy entered, and Jade bowed slightly. She guided Lily and herself back towards the table, away from the staircase. "It's fine, we all managed," she lied. "My Lady, we do not require anything at the moment, I don't think, but Lady Sparrow is injured. We may need a doctor of some sort..." She looked, a little worriedly, towards the gash in Lilys' side. It's healed now, she thought, but what if it re-opens? Can it? And is it really healed enough for her to be walking..?

Pictura quickly turned to the stallion, her eyes narrowing, although she doubted he could see it in that lighting. "Alright, I'll buy it for now...My name's Pictura. Who're you lot?" She looked at them both semi-quizzically. "And, I suppose I'm sorry about the...slap," she said reluctantly to the other mare.

"Oh, um okay, seeya' later, Encore!" Actius called after Encore as he made his way to a group of mares. Soon, a blind zebra-pony walked up to him. "Oh hi. I'm, uh..." He trailed off as she went over to another group of ponies. "Bye, then." He watched her as she left, talking about some pony called "Jabber," then gasped, partly because of the beautiful rainbows, partly because she just fell over the railings. "Oh my-" He galloped off towards her to help, but two other mares had already begun to pull her out of the water. He was about to trot back to where Silent had been, but, unfortunately, she had left to go talk to Encore and the other ponies he was with. Sighing, Actius thought, What would Pictura do? Looking around, he sighed again. "Oi." ((This is what Actius gets when I'm too busy to post . Thankfully, I have no homework this weekend, so I should be able to post actively. Anyone can talk Actius, if ya' feel like it.))

The Cult of Laughter - Painting (OOC: Sorry Anon) Looking up at Prophet Tondrak, Derpy sniffled sadly at what he said, and her lip quivered when he took the muffin basket. When it set on fire, her eyes watered, not only from the ghastly-smelling smoke, but also because of her deep sadness. Suddenly, a ton of muffins of several kinds fell from above her head. "Yay! It's raining MUFFINS!" She began to eat, forgetting all about the flaming muffins to her left. The Cult of Laughter - Somewhere in the Undercity Derpy hopped out of the painting and looked around - they were in the Undercity. Sadly, the muffins appeared to be gone. Trying to distract herself from this tragedy, she turned to The Artist. "What propos...prop...pro-whatever-you-said?" House Everfree - The Old Castle Ruins - Lady Fluttershys' Dining Hall Turning back to face Eve, Jade said bluntly, "Yes." Then, seeming a little tired, for she was, she admitted, "I don't know what else can be done." Lily then leaned on her for support, apologizing. "It's okay," replied Jade. After all, the pegasus was wounded. If she wanted to stand and walk, she needed help. "I don't mind if you need the support."

Picturas' eyes snapped open. Getting up off of the dirt ground- Ground?! she thought to herself. I went to sleep in a bed last night, didn't I? Wait, what did I do last night? Ugh, did I get drunk or something? Never have before. ... Where's the lou...? Turning about, she saw that she was in a concrete tunnel, not too unlike the ones she'd graffiti-ed in Manehattan before. Wait, am I still in Manehattan? Just then, she noticed two silhouettes of a stallion and a mare. Was I kidnapped?! Walking up to the mare, Pictura spun her around - for she was behind the mare previously - and slapped her across the face, silky mane twirling as she did. "Oi! Where am I? Where've you taken me?"

Upon coming to the falls, all Actius could do was utter a single word. "Wow." A rushing river flanked by lush plant-life ran up to a sheer drop, cascaded off of the edge, and splashed into the pool of water below, causing the water to froth and churn. Mist filled the chilly air as it flew about in gusts of wind. "This is..amazing." (OOC: In science class yesterday, a retired geologist came to school and talked about various landforms, including the Niagara Falls. I automatically thought of the RP and tried to describe it in my head )

(OOC: Sorry for the lack off posting lately - homework n' stuff...SOOO MUCH...) The Cult of Laughter - The Manehattan Inner City - ...Somewhere (?) "Yep!" said Derpy gleefully to her rescue stallion. She jumped into the painting, but before doing so, she grabbed onto Tondraks' hoof, dragging him in with her. Into the depths of the painting they disappeared, landing in some random forest. "Ooh," said Derpy, "pretty painting!" She then walked forth, exploring, oblivious to the dangers that could be lurking. House Everfree - The Old Castle Ruins - Fluttershys' Dining Hall Jade looked Sand up and down. Was he really not able to stop that spear? she thought to herself. He could be lying, but what would be his motivation? Fluttershy did call him a trickster. He could be telling the truth, though - I have no knowledge of unicorn magic. Casting her thoughts aside to ponder over later, she started to mull over what Lily had said. "I think you're right. Lady Fluttershy will know what to do, if there is anything to be done." Turning to the door the Lady and the stag had gone through, she asked, "Who else will come?"

"Oh, you didn't have to do that, but thanks! Yeah, the Falls sound cool. Let's go!" Actius stood from his seat and cantered forth in the direction he assumed the Falls were in, realizing he probably knew a bit more about the town than the rest of the group, seeing as he had been there longest. That wasn't necessarily a good thing, though...

House Everfree - The Old Castle Ruins - Lady Fluttershys' Dining Hall Eves' words could have been put more gently, but she was right. Still, the poor pegasus had just been taken from her home and stabbed through with a spear, which can't help her state of mind. Lily seemed to be very brave to try and stand at this time, much more than before, but Jade held her tongue so the argument between her companions would not increase. "I don't know what you can do," she said, trotting over to Lily as she fell to the ground. "Do what you think is right. The forest could help, although if you choose not to join, I understand...and I would love to see you again sometime." When Lily was standing, although rather shakily, Jade felt a tiny kiss on her cheek. She had never been in a relationship before - nothing even close - and she didn't know if this qualified exactly or if it was even what Sparrow was aiming for, so she decided just to keep quiet and try to stop blushing. "No problem." Her embarrassed expression slowly left her face. "What should we do now?"

House Everfree - The Old Castle Ruins - Lady Fluttershys' Dining Hall "That's a beautiful name," said Jade. It wasn't entirely just for comfort - it really was quite pretty. When Lily shuddered, Jade wrapped a little more of the blanket around her, at least the part that wasn't bloodstained. "I'm so sorry to hear about your parents." She knew from experience when a pony was reminiscing about something or somepony they'd lost, and that, whether they knew themselves, they needed help getting over it, no matter how long ago. "A nuisance?" Jade asked with bewilderment. Then again, she'd probably blame herself if she was in that situation. "Lily, you didn't get in anyponys' way at all, and the spear wasn't your fault - it was the soldiers. You couldn't have predicted that. And even if you hadn't left your home, you still would have been summoned here by Lady Fluttershy." She's lucky she has a home, Jade thought to herself. She wiped the tears from Lilys' eyes, although she knew more would follow. "Is the wound feeling any better?" She gently laid her hoof across the blanket over Lilys' side, the injury underneath. It would take time and help to heal, but for now all they could do was wait until either Lily regained enough strength to walk to a doctor or Eve managed to gather her wits and help again.

"Cool," said Actius, completely oblivious to the fact that she was trying to hide something. "I was in town for about two days to see a musical, but I decided to get a ticket for the train so I could get away from my roommate for a little longer." He chuckled quietly to himself. "What about you, Descant?"

@Descant/Flareon House Everfree - The Old Castle Ruins - Lady Fluttershys' Dining Hall Jade looked at Lady Sparrow, deep into her large, pleading eyes, which glistened with fresh tears. She seemed pained and helpless, like a wounded bird, which, in a way, she was. For a split second, the corners of Jades' mouth flicked up in a sympathetic smile, but they soon returned to their normal sad look. "Okay." She couldn't leave then, and she didn't want to, for if she did no one could be sure just how long the girls would last without someone to watch them, if at all. She sang for a while to the quivering Lady Sparrow, gently stroking her mane to ease whatever pain or fear she may still harbor. Evergreen seemed to be recovering from her attack on the Stormwing soldiers, and just as slowly as before. Jades' throat and eyes grew dry, and she paused, her hoof ceasing to move across Sparrows' mane to reach for water from her bag. She took a few gulps and put the bottle back in her weathered saddlebag. Before beginning to chirp her song once more, a question came to her mind. "What is your name, Sparrow?"

@The-Master House Everfree - The Old Castle Ruins - Lady Fluttershys' Dining Hall Jade nodded and took the poultice from Evergreen. Not entirely sure how it would help, she spread it around the wound as instructed. Eve then fell to the ground, and Jade was alarmed, but she then felt at least a little better when she saw that Eve was not passed out. Jade looked to Lady Sparrow. "This is probably going to hurt. Bite this." She ripped off a piece of the blanket from her bag and inserted it into Sparrows' mouth to ease the pain before proceeding to pull the spear out. She peered into the wound and gagged a little, as she was not used to seeing so much blood and gore, or any at all for that matter. "It..." she began, "it's not too bad, as far as I can tell, although it is a bit deep." She had seen a few people with battle wounds the few times she had gone out as a filly, and she knew they had to be bandaged. She tied the remainder of her blanket, which was most of it, around the wound on Sparrows' waist. Jade took the cloth out of the mouth and put her hoof on the Ladys' shoulder. "It's alright, everything will be okay." That's what her mother used to say. A few tears threatened to roll down her cheeks at the thought of her mother, but she wouldn't let them. She began to sing a song to comfort Sparrow, and also sort of Eve, who seemed to be worn out. She sang softly and sweetly and with emotion, a song she sang when trying to lift her spirits as a filly after her father died, a song she now knew by heart: "Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree, Merry merry king of the bush is he-e, Laugh! Kookaburra Laugh! Kookaburra gay your life must be..." And as she sang, slowly, the tears began to fall. ((That's the only song I could think of, and it seems kinda' fitting to sing a song about a bird to Lady Sparrow))

((S'okay)) Actuis looked over to Encore. "Oh yeah, and maybe they're headed to the falls as well. It'll be nice to have more company. The more the merrier, right?" he said, oblivious to Silent Dances' shyness. "But I think they're still eating just now. So, it seems we'll be waiting for a little while, why not get to know each other? Why are you guys riding the train?" He knew both of them (or at least Encore) had probably been asked that question several times already, but it was a good question and Actius was curious.

The Cult of Laughter - The Manehattan Inner City - Somewhere (???) Derpy nodded to the painty-inky-stallion before running off around the city to find Tondrak. It didn't occur to her how strange it was that this pony knew so much about the Cult - no one but the Prophets knew of Tondraks' "condition". Derpy soon heard yet another clamor and turned to face it, seeing several guards chasing (guess who?) Tondrak. She sped after him and soon caught up with the living skeleton. He was hard to recognise at first, but he was bony and his skin sewn on, and no other Cult pony she knew of was on a mission in the city of Manehattan. "Tondrak!" she yelled, turning to look at him, for Derpy was now running and fighting alongside him. "We need to go to the place! The one with the ponies! Fill...Fillydelphia! Lila's in a painting right now, but a nice pony who gave me muffins says she'll be fine! So follow me!" She turned toward where Fillydelphia was and took off into the air. She wasn't sure Tondrak had heard her over all the ponies yelling, explosions, gunfire, magic blasts, and other havoc, but at least the guards hadn't heard.

The Cult of Laughter - The Manehattan Inner City - The Underground Prison Derpy said "YES" through the cloth in her mouth, although it was rather inaudible. She would do anything to get out of that cell. She was soon handed a basket of muffins. she went *SQUEE* before saying, "Yay, MUFFINS! You are the BEST!" She then trained her good eye on one of the guards and launched into the air, heading straight for him. He fell to the ground with a metallic noise, and Derpys' eye flicked to the next guard before she pounced on her as well. The next few minutes was a flurry of blood, gore, screams, and just an overall fracas. Corpses fell to the floor as Derpy and the other cultists ran through the halls, shrieking and laughing dementedly. The rescue-pony was killing as well, and Prophet Derpy thought he was a very devoted cultist, if he was one, and it was lucky that he had stumbled upon them. At last they saw the exit, but the guards seemed to have been there already, as the door was bolted. "Blood Wind," she yelled, "work your Euphorie-tastic skills!" She then pelted the door with muffins, as the basket she was holding seemed to have an almost infinite supply, if not completely infinite. Yay, she thought.

House Everfree - The Old Castle Ruins - Lady Fluttershys' Dining Hall Jade only then realized that the Lady Sparrow, or whatever she was called, was wounded. She felt truly hurt by Evergreens' comment, much more than she had expected. "I," she began a little shakily, "I'm...I'm sorry, I didn't..." her face and voice hardened and she trotted swiftly over to where Evergreen was mending the pegasus mare. "How do I help to heal her?" Her eyes were locked on those of Evergreen when asking the question, then moved to the wound, which was rather large and had a spear coming out of it at an odd angle. She'd never healed anything before, but she might as well try to start now. There would not be any more deaths, not then. ((Yeah, Jade is a little useless at this point, but trust me - she'll get better. I have PLANS, teeheehee...)) The Cult of Laughter - The Manehattan Inner City - The Underground (I Think) Prison Derpy heard a scuffle down the hall, a fight, and then guards ran to her cell, tightening the chains. Are we getting out of here? she thought. Does the rescue-pony have muffins? They confiscated my muffin basket earlier...she sniffed a little, but then she was distracted from her sorrows when she heard a loud CLANG! followed by various shouts and guards scampering in many directions, and a few of them came to her cell and tightened the chains around her hooves and wings.